The DreamHack Masters Las Vegas quarterfinals are set for Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Here’s our preview and picks for the Top 8 round.
DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 has completed its Group Stage and narrowed the field down to the Top 8. Which Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams will shine Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and which will fall?
Below are our picks for each of Saturday’s best-of-three matchups in the DreamHack Masters Las Vegas quarterfinals. You can watch all four games live on Twitch starting with the pre-show at 9:20 a.m. local time.
The winners of the quarterfinals will go on to compete in Sunday’s two semifinal matchups before the Grand Final that takes place Sunday evening.
Let’s break down the remaining bracket:
Quarterfinal 1: Gambit vs. North (10 a.m. PT)
The first match of the day is likely to be the closest contest. Gambit were true surprises at January’s ELEAGUE Major 2017, making a decent run out of seemingly nowhere. Conversely North were starting over after the former Team Dignitas got themselves a new name and new backing from FC Copenhagen.
Gambit still shows plenty of potential and will only get better as the year goes on. But North just wrecked ELEAGUE Season 2 champions OpTic Gaming easily in Friday’s Decider Match, winning 2-0 in less than an hour and a half. As much as we’d love to see Gambit continue surprising the world, we have to respect the statement North just made and say that they’ll strong-arm another team on Sunday.
Our Pick: North
Quarterfinal 2: Mousesports vs. Virtus.pro (1 p.m. PT)
Here’s an intriguing story. Mousesports, in their final game with NiKo, are going up against the best team in the world. It would be an amazing tale if Mousesports bumped off the Virtus Plow and went on to win DreamHack Masters Las Vegas 2017 to send their best player out on a high note. But there’s just too much wrong with Mousesports for that to happen.
If NiKo has another great game as he did in Mouz’s opening match, this could be competitive. But having one or two individual performances isn’t going to be enough to combat the combined set of experience and talent that is Virtus.pro. It’ll be a watchable BO3 but we have to stick with Taz, Pasha and the crew.
Our Pick: Virtus.pro
Quarterfinal 3: Astralis vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas (3 p.m. PT)
When NIP are on fire they can still do some amazing things. As long as F0rest and GeT_RiGht are around the Ninjas will always cause a little havoc. But they also got pushed to the brink by Cloud9 on Friday, including Cloud9 making them look like idiots 16-2 on Cobblestone. That kind of up and down play will end a team against any proper CS:GO competition — let alone when they’re drawing the other best squad in the world.
Astralis got over their own inconsistency when they beat Virtus.pro for the ELEAGUE Major 2017 title. Based on the Group Stage, they’ve still got momentum at DreamHack Masters Las Vegas. They have just found a way to click together even better in 2017. NIP might mix things up a bit, but there’s no way that they’ll get past Astralis. The Danish team is just too good and too hot at the moment.
Our Pick: Astralis
Quarterfinal 4: SK Gaming vs. Natus Vincere (7 p.m. PT)
SK Gaming know what it’s like to be champions. So do Na’vi, who were holding the trophy at DreamHack Leipzig last year. Both teams have had their victories and their stumbles in the recent past, so neither organization is a mortal lock here. But we’re going to side with the Brazilians just because of precedent.
Not only do they have the pedigree, but they just finished as semifinalists in ELEAGUE Season 2. They did lose to Cloud9 on Thursday yet temper that with the knowledge that Cloud9 also just took NIP to three maps on Friday. And with Na’vi also being pushed to the limit against FaZe, we’re going to give SK Gaming the slight edge. But either team could have a shot at the DreamHack Masters Las Vegas semis if they get the right breaks.
Our Pick: SK Gaming
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DreamHack Masters Las Vegas continues through Sunday from MGM Grand Garden Arena. You can watch the entire tournament via live stream here. Put your picks for Saturday’s quarterfinals in the comments.